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Singing Class Gift Certificates
Consider gifting one of our singing classes
to a family member or friend! Choose among Hungarian pronunciation classes, one-time workshops, class series, lectures, and more.
You may choose a specific class to gift or choose an amount which may be applied at the recipient's discretion. Personalized gift certificate PDFs (shown at right) are available at no extra charge.
Simply fill out the class registration form here and select gift certificate, or send us a message here.
Physical CDs
Click an image below to purchase, based on your country.
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Places to buy CDs in person
Budapest: In stock at Mesterporta (open regular store hours), Fonó Music Hall (CD sales open during events), and Óbuda Folk Music School. Details below!
California: In stock at The Music Offering, Berkeley
Let us know where else you'd like to see it.
And of course at ALL of our concerts, singing classes, lectures, and other events!
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Digital downloads
More info about Music of Elderflowers...
Dearest community,
We're so pleased to have completed our record Music of Elderflowers.
Recorded in Budapest this spring and summer, it includes Matthew Szemela's brilliant fiddling, Misha Khalikulov's gorgeous, dynamic cello playing, and my personal testimony to re-learning heritage and reinterpreting it in our village in the diaspora in the Bay, through my singing and arrangements. We're honored to have guest musicians Éva Fábián (voice and percussive cello), Andrea Navratil (voice), and Gergely Agócs (Transdanubian long flute) join us on several tracks - they are master Hungarian folk musicians and have supported this project from its very beginnings.
A decade in the making, this album is the culmination of years of travel back and forth between California and the Carpathian Basin, song collecting, translating, arranging, rehearsing, researching... with the aim to share beautiful music, and to share information about cultural practice, history, worldview, and different approaches we can take to handling culture, and to interacting with each other.
The CD features music from all five major regions of Hungarian folk music - the Great Plains, Transdanubia, historical Upper Hungary, Transylvania, and Moldavia - with a focus on Mezőség, Gyimes, and Moldva (Moldavia). The total time is 65 minutes, with 26 melodies on 17 tracks. There are ballads and laments, slow dances, fast dances, weaving songs, and more, with varied instrumental accompaniment that is traditional, composed, or improvised. The CD booklet is bilingual, and all song words with full translations can be found on our website.
We didn't do a crowdsource funding campaign for this album, and the expenses of recording and manufacturing, even on a tight budget, are greater than the grants and donations we had supporting it. We're still paying for many of these upfront costs, so if you have a little extra to give, be a hero and support our work. We thank you!
We're looking forward to sharing the album with you, and hope to see you at an upcoming performance. Please do write to let us know what you think!
With gratitude,
Zina Bozzay, for Vadalma
November 2018
Vadalma: Music of Elderflowers
Hungarian village folk songs in handmade arrangements
Magyar népdalok kézműves átiratban
Recorded in Budapest in 2018, this album features traditional Hungarian folk songs in unique handmade settings, with both traditional and original accompaniment. Vadalma learned the songs directly from village singers across the Carpathian Basin, and re-imagined them with new frames, crafted to cherish the richness of this music.
Vadalma:
Zina Bozzay - voice, arrangements
Matthew Szemela - violin
Misha Khalikulov - cello
Special guests:
Éva Fábián - voice, ütőgardon (percussive cello from Transylvania)
Andrea Navratil - voice
Gergely Agócs - Transdanubian long flute
Total time: 65 minutes
Recorded, mixed, and mastered by János Mazura, Etnofon Stúdió, Budapest
Produced by Zina Bozzay
Label: Elder Records, USA. ELD-013
Distributor: Stereo Kft. Budapest, Hungary.
Release date: November 16, 2018.
Vadalma is based in San Francisco, CA and Budapest, Hungary.
"San Francisco vocalist and song sleuth Zina Bozzay is positively evangelical when it comes to spreading Hungarian culture, and spending a little time with her trio Vadalma is likely to make you a believer. "
- Andrew Gilbert, Vadalma's California CD release show in November 2018's "Best Around the Bay", San Francisco Classical Voice
"Zina is a masterful composer, creating such music using Hungarian folk songs that it’s a far-and-away exemplary standard for our folk music arrangers here in Hungary!
... In the hands of two miraculously virtuosic, versatile musicians, in Zina’s conception our traditional music blooms and flourishes further, showing more and more colors! It is not affected by popular music, it doesn’t adjust to market demands, it doesn’t aim to make the folk music “consumable”, so it doesn’t carry the risks of many folk music arrangements: that the essence of our traditional music is lost.
As the Folk Music Director of the Fonó Music Hall in Budapest who is well acquainted with folk music arrangements, I can attest that Zina's compositions are far above average in taste, quality, and selection, and it would be very valuable for broader musical circles to become acquainted with her world view...”
- István Berecz, award-winning Hungarian folk dancer and Folk Music Director of Fonó, Budapest (translated from Hungarian)
"A beautiful and original album. Elegant, special, subtle, and soothing "salon music" - it's refreshing in our noisy world. And simultaneously, correctly sung and performed Hungarian folk music."
- Károly Cserepes, composer (translated)
"I hold up Zina Bozzay, the singer of Vadalma, as a model for others. As a composer she creates music which both suits the desires of our times and also with professional humility respects the essence of Hungarian folk songs. She acquired these authentic folk songs with the utmost fastidiousness, and wrote uncomplicated and yet sophisticated, musically exciting accompaniment for them. With the stylistic execution of her musicians, it creates a lasting experience."
- Éva Fábián, Hungarian folk singer and teacher (translated)
"Stunningly beautiful... a genuine, subtle, and exciting album. Hungarian folk song adaptations showing how they see it across the ocean, with fresh, contemporary compositions and an authentic sound."
- Heni Szalay, Hungarian singer and actress
Check out some albums by our friends
On Fonó's webshop you can find lots of great CDs of Hungarian folk music - from village recordings to contemporary albums in the traditional style to world music and jazz using Hungarian folk music elements.
